The Hennepin County Medical Center turned an industrial brownfield in Minneapolis into a family medical clinic that is flooded with light and decorated with a color scheme that helps patients find their way around.

The McCann family knew a gem when they saw it, even if its earliest products weren’t exactly precious metals. The family’s commercial construction business, the Update Co., took a 1920s-era foundry building with clerestory windows and iron trusses, stripped away extraneous additions and made a light-filled airy setting for office tenants just off University Avenue in St. Paul.

“It’s a Catch-22 for everybody,” said John Seibert, the president of Ramsey-based JFS Development Inc. “The franchisee sits out here and says, ‘I want to do what you want me to do, but I can’t do what you want me to do because there is no cash flow.’ ”

Housed at the University of St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities SBDC has been helping businesses for 30 years, providing free guidance in planning and marketing as well as help in securing financing. The centers are partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration.